Last autumn I spent a lot of time drawing at the V&A and the British Museum. I got really obsessed with the sculpturs of Yakshi, especially this one at the V&A in th South Asian Sculpture Collection. Yakshis were tree spirits, deities of Hindu, Buddhist, and Jain mythology. This one is a Shalabhanjika (a stylised sculpture that usually exaggerates feminine features, of a standing woman, holding a branch of a tree ) from Mathura (India ), 2nd century. I've drawn her many times, this was my final piece I produced. #drawing#colouringpencils#polychromos#indiansculpture#yakshi #V&A #victoriaandalbertmuseum#spirit#goddess

The Demon hunter of Chottanikara
This was a recommendation by @jaanusreadingnook I had got this book on Kindle last year but it got buried in my endless TBR 😁😁. But #discoveringindiareadathon gave me a reason to pick this up. I read this for the Prompt :Based on an Indian folklore
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The story takes place in Chottanikara, a village in Kerala. The main protagonist is Devi, a demon hunter and her pet lion, Ugra.The villagers of Chottanikara worship her, as she keeps them safe from Demons like Vethalam, Brahma rakshas, mohini pisachu etc. When Devi meets head on with one of the most dangerous demons, will she be able to defeat it? .
I loved the descriptions, it brought alive Kerala and the different types of demons. I could actually see the exorcism which Devi performs😮. It is a short book I finished it in a day and enjoyed it.The story was predictable, none of the twists surprised me. Another thing which I didn't like was the cover, it reminded me of a Dragon,which didn't go right with the premise.
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It brought back memories of being a kid. I was a huge fan of Yakshi kathakal (Yakshi stories ). The beautiful yakshi with long black hair and white sari who travellers couldn't resist. It also reminded me of the Malayalam serials I used to see then🙊
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#folklore#kerala#keralafolklore#booksacrossgenres#unitedbookstagram#readersofinstagram#readersofig#BOOKSTAGRAMINDIA#whatbengalurureads#trackmypost#yakshi#supernatural#bookstagram